The Pollinator Conservation Association (PCA) is a new, Western New York based, not-for-profit organization, that supports conservation strategies and native pollinator conservation through initiatives and action plans that promote community engagement, collaboration, education, and implementation. ​We are a growing coalition of organizations, individuals, educational institutions, government agencies and departments, and private businesses, designed to promote wider use of pollinator conservation as an ecological strategy.

WHAT WE DO

Collaboration, Site Evaluation, Survey, Project Development, Conseervation, and Community Engagement

We are engaged in both identifying sites and regional pollinator conservation strategies and developing specific locations and opportunities for pollinator conservation. This includes an ongoing development strategy for Pollinator Conservation in the Niagara River Greenway, as well as the targeting of specific conservation sites and opportunities. We work with the private sector, government, not-for- profits, and private land and homeowners. If you have a site that you would like us to consider, please contact us. More info on this Page.

CONSULTING

The PCA has a team of professionals that includes botanists, ecologists, entomologists, landscape designers, and maintenance professionals that can help turn almost any place of any size into Pollinator Conservation Sites. For more information email: greenwatch100@ gmail.com

LEARNING

Collaboration

We endeavor to work with a variety of partners in order to advance conservation and pollinator conservation strategies. We know that the best route to true conservation sustainability is to help lift all boats. Let us partner with you, your community, and your organization to advance strategies that help to insure real conservation opportunities, projects, and investments.

Programming

We have and are continuing to develop programming including multi-media and video presentations, lectures, workshops, and a variety of social media projects that promote Pollinator Conservation for the general public, government, not-for-profits, schools, and management and maintenance professionals

​Citizen Science

Citizen Science is an opportunity for everyone to participate in building and sharing a knowledge base about pollinators, habitats, and the biodiversity that powers our living planet. We are working with educational institutions to design Pollinator Friendly Campuses.​We are developing this website as a portal to knowledge about pollinator conservation and specific site strategies.

The PCA embraces a variety of citizen science projects including eBird and the Last Ladybug Project.

Butterfly Counts

The Pollinator Conservation Association conducts Butterfly counts during appropriate seasons. You can participate. To learn more about our July 4 Counts, go to This Page.

The map on the right shows our registered North American Butterfly Count area based on a 15 mile radius from Times Beach Nature Preserve in downtown Buffalo New York. If you want to participate in our July count please go to This Page

Pollinators

What are Pollinators? Click here Pollinators are essentially biological agents that enhance reproduction opportunities in plants. We generally associate pollinators with animals that help transfer pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma thus promoting reproduction. MORE:Click here

Pollinator Conservation Strategy Click HerePollinators have co-dependent relationships with plants and ecosystems. Healthy intact native ecosystems depend on specific pollinators, and visa-versa. The PCA promotes the use of native plants to support native ecosystems and native pollinators. We are not take a managed horticultural approach so much as we take an ecosystems and plant community approach. A plant community and its evolutionary relationships to the habitat, other species of flora and fauna, and the ecosystems that they support are fundamental aspects of Pollinator Conservation. Pollinator Conservation is a gateway to ecological conservation and restoration.

Pollinator PathwaysPollinators use all habitat and although specific pollinators depend often on specific habitat, the concept of connectivity is another fundamental value of pollinator conservation. We are working to create a wide pollinator pathway in our region, especially in the Niagara River Greenway which stretches from Buffalo's Outer Harbor to Lake Ontario. Eventually we hope to build pollinator pathway programs throughout the Great Lakes. For more information on Pollinator Pathways, Click Here

HoneybeesIt is important to note that the Pollinator Conservation Association is not about agricultural honeybee conservation. Domesticated European Honeybee's are invasive and competitive to most native bees and other pollinators. Honeybees and their association with agricultural practices are a big part of the problems related to the decline of native pollinators and ecosystems. They compete with native bees for food, help to spread disease, and help to limit biodiversity- the key to a healthy ecosystem. It is true that a wide recognition of pollinator threats has come about because of the decline of agricultural bees (Colony Collapse Disorder) and that awareness of these issues is essential to native pollinator conservation. The PCA is an advocate for native ecosystems. If you are a beekeeper, there is room for you here, especially if you are involved in small scale organic farming. We do not advocate for industrial agriculture. This does not mean that we do not support family pollinator gardens and organic farming. This does not mean that we are anti-honeybee. The PCA is just simply not a resource for honeybee farmers. More info, Click Here "How the Bees You Know are Killing the Bees You Don't." Inside Science; and Click Here "The Case Against Honeybees" Atlas Obscura

Pollination

Learn about how pollination works and how native pollinators have evolved with native plants, ecosystems, and habitats to create biodiversity, a healthy atmosphere, and a healthy life-supporting planet. CLICK HERE